Mauritians see growing corruption and poor government performance

Almost three-quarters of Mauritians say the level of corruption in the country has increased over the past year, and majorities express mistrust of institutions and elected leaders, according to the latest Afrobarometer survey.

Low levels of popular trust mark the political class, including the ruling and opposition parties, the president, the prime minister, and the National Assembly. Many Mauritians see widespread corruption in these and other key institutions.

Nearly half of citizens do not approve of the performance of the prime minister, members of the National Assembly, and the president.

In addition, Mauritians give the government poor grades on keeping prices stable, narrowing income gaps, creating jobs, and other key issues.

Key findings

• A majority of Mauritians express “just a little trust” or “no trust at all” in the nation’s political institutions and leaders, including the president (59%), the prime minister (54%), the National Assembly (57%), municipal and district councils (57%), and both ruling (56%) and opposition parties (58%) (Figure 1).
• More than seven in 10 Mauritians (72%) say the level of corruption in the country increased “somewhat” or “a lot” over the past year (Figure 2).
• Nearly three-quarters (72%) of Mauritians believe that people who report acts of corruption to the authorities are at risk of retaliation or other negative consequences (Figure 3).
• Almost three in 10 citizens say “most” or “all” officials in the prime minister’s office (29%) and members of the National Assembly (28%) are corrupt, while large majorities see at least “some” corruption among all key public institutions and leaders the survey asked about (Figure 4).
• Large majorities say the government is doing “very badly” or “fairly badly” at keeping prices stable (91%), narrowing income gaps (83%), creating jobs (81%), reducing crime (78%), and fighting corruption (76%) (Figure 5).
• Half (50%) of Mauritians approve of the job performance of their elected municipal or district councillors. Fewer give positive performance ratings to Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth (47%), their members of the National Assembly (42%), and President Prithviraj Roopun (31%) (Figure 6).

Afrobarometer is a pan-African, non-partisan survey research network that provides reliable data on African experiences and evaluations of democracy, governance, and quality of life.

Source: Afrobarometer